Midfield duo Kane Shephard and Logan Stubber star as Railways finish regular season on a winning note

Railways will take winning form into the first week of the finals after downing Albany by 60 points in an uninspiring clash at Centennial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers cruised to their 12th win of the season in the final round as midfield duo Kane Shephard and Logan Stubber dominated, with Matt Van Schayk and Joel Want combining for eight goals up forward. Stubber finished with 34 disposals in another eye-catching performance, while Shephard collected 12 touches in the first term and ended the match with 38 possessions to help set up the 14.7 (91) to 4.7 (31) victory. The Tigers took no risks ahead of the second semifinal, with Matt Palfrey, Jayden Scott, Ethan Knee, Zak Hortin, Leighton Smith and Harry Hordacre all missing from their team the previous week. The Sharks also managed a number of key players with the competition’s leading goal kicker Brett Peake and midfield star Morgan Davies both missing while Jake Louthean, Dane Holdman, Jack Adams and Sam Christo also didn’t play. It took 21 minutes for the opening goal of the game to be kicked by Robbie Lee and his Sharks took a slender one-point lead into quarter time. Want booted his second goal shortly after quarter time to put the Tigers back in front and they were never significantly challenge after that point. The Tigers held a 25-point advantage at half time after five second quarter goals. Despite Sharks kicking the first major of the second half the margin grew beyond 40 points. Want added a fourth and teenage debutant Clay Michael ran into goal to slot his first major in senior footy. But the Sharks were hanging in there as Jake Stuart’s late major trimmed the margin to 35 points at three-quarter time. The Tigers quickly put the game to bed in the fourth with Van Schayk kicking two more to seal the result. Stubber and Shephard were the two most influential players on the ground while Want booted four goals and won plenty of clearances in a lively display. Dylan Schorer and Coen Jackman also played well for the visitors but they did lose Fraser Grant to a hamstring injury. “We had a couple of boys sore and it wasn’t worth risking them in a dead rubber,” Tigers’ coach Mark Bayliss said. “The conditions and that wind certainly made the game difficult.” The Sharks were best served by hard-running midfielder Cam Jones (32 possessions), Jonathan Leach, young defender David Arthur and wingman Robbie Lee (23 disposals). “We just wanted to get through the day and we came out of it well,” Sharks’ coach Jamie Ramm said.